What are you cooking now?

[Anna]

braised veal, sprouts & roast potatoes........ sea bream baked on a bed of sliced potato & onion, & covered with a parsley, breadcrumb & olive oil mix.

Your menus sound absolutely lovely Flossie - here's it's difficult to get rose veal and I was suddenly reminded of one of my favourite old fashioned dishes - Blanquette de Veau which I haven't had for years. I think I'll try your fish recipe as well.

Here a trip to Waitrose revealed bargains - their osso buco sliced lamb shanks reduced to £2.98 a kg and leeks 58p a kg, so it's going to be a Cawl/lamb stew here. Turnips were also drastically reduced, so I bought some (19p reduced from £1.00!) but not sure what to do with them yet.

[mangerton]

Turnips were also drastically reduced, so I bought some (19p reduced from £1.00!) but not sure what to do with them yet.

You make a turnip lantern

Or boil them, mash them with lots of butter and black pepper and serve them with steak pie on New Year's Day, or (better yet) haggis on Burns' night.

Actually you can do both, because you use the turnip innards from the lantern.

[teamsaint]

An easy but rather decent Korma recipe, half chicken, half veg.

Damson tinged Badger Beer and a Jazz compilation to go with.


( Mind you, keeping the two halves of the pot separate is a so and so...)

[BBMmk2]

I suppose going out for a drink last night was not the ideal situation, after me and my wife had our own Christmas dinner!! :)

[Flosshilde]

Your menus sound absolutely lovely Flossie - here's it's difficult to get rose veal and I was suddenly reminded of one of my favourite old fashioned dishes - Blanquette de Veau which I haven't had for years. I think I'll try your fish recipe as well.

Thanks Anna. The veal was good - bought from a farm on the Ayrshire/Dumfriesshire borders. They take the bull calves from the dairy farm next door & rear them on grass. The fish recipe is from Jane Grigson's 'Fish book' - the book I turn to first for fish recipes.

Here a trip to Waitrose revealed bargains - their osso buco sliced lamb shanks reduced to £2.98 a kg and leeks 58p a kg, so it's going to be a Cawl/lamb stew here. Turnips were also drastically reduced, so I bought some (19p reduced from £1.00!) but not sure what to do with them yet.

Aren't turnips a classic accompaniment for lamb?

[Flosshilde]

You make a turnip lantern

Or boil them, mash them with lots of butter and black pepper and serve them with steak pie on New Year's Day, or (better yet) haggis on Burns' night.

Actually you can do both, because you use the turnip innards from the lantern.

I think Anna's turnips might have been the smaller white ones, not the big yellow ones known as swedes in England (& Wales I assume), & therefore not really suitable for lanterns (or with haggis )

[Anna]

I think Anna's turnips might have been the smaller white ones, not the big yellow ones known as swedes in England (& Wales I assume), & therefore not really suitable for lanterns (or with haggis )

Yes, I did wonder if mangerton was referring to swedes, not the white turnips that I bought, and then I read an article about 'neeps' in general and it said the Scots have a habit of sadistically changing the names of these vegetables when referring to them so as to mess with us Southerner's heads!!

I did mash some with plenty of pepper and butter and they were nice but since then I've found a recipe of roasting them with parsnips and adding a Parmesan and thyme dusting which sounds good or adding bits of crisp bacon to the mash (probably this should be on the parsnip/root veg thread)

Teamsaint's idea of a curry sounds very good in this weather!

[Beef Oven!]

I have ran out of turkey, so I don't know what to cook today because I had not planned far enough ahead.

[teamsaint]

Yes, I did wonder if mangerton was referring to swedes, not the white turnips that I bought, and then I read an article about 'neeps' in general and it said the Scots have a habit of sadistically changing the names of these vegetables when referring to them so as to mess with us Southerner's heads!!

I did mash some with plenty of pepper and butter and they were nice but since then I've found a recipe of roasting them with parsnips and adding a Parmesan and thyme dusting which sounds good or adding bits of crisp bacon to the mash (probably this should be on the parsnip/root veg thread)

Teamsaint's idea of a curry sounds very good in this weather!

That Korma recipe is great, let me know if you want details.

[mangerton]

Yes, I did wonder if mangerton was referring to swedes, not the white turnips that I bought, and then I read an article about 'neeps' in general and it said the Scots have a habit of sadistically changing the names of these vegetables when referring to them so as to mess with us Southerner's heads!!

I must be honest and say that I thought you were probably referring to smaller white ones, but Burns' night is now less than a month away, and I thought I'd get in an early plug for "bashed neeps".

Talking of name-changing sadists, when I was in the trade many years ago, I found out that swedes are aka "rutabaga".

The main thing is you found some Good Things to do with them.

[Anna]

That Korma recipe is great, let me know if you want details.

Yes please! Perhaps Beefy might like it too?

I have ran out of turkey, so I don't know what to cook today because I had not planned far enough ahead.

Surely you've got some veggies, lentils, chickpeas, spices - make a curry!

Talking of name-changing sadists, when I was in the trade many years ago, I found out that swedes are aka "rutabaga"..

Yes, but if I'm walking down the main street of any Scottish town and I go to the greengrocer to buy some small white turnips - what on earth do I ask for? Can you buy them in Scotland? Perhaps in future, to save confusion on this forum, we should adopt the French word for them which is Navets?

[Beef Oven!]

I see there are lentils and chick peas in the cupboard, but I don't think it would be manly to use them.

[teamsaint]

I see there are lentils and chick peas in the cupboard, but I don't think it would be manly to use them.

not even in London?

here's the Korma recipe: I'll do it for Chicken, but just substitute an equal quantity of beef/vegetables /whatever.

Heat 10 Oz of Olive oil (I think I used quite a lot less actually) and fry 3 medium onions until turning brown. Reserve a small amount of onion to decorate at the end.

then mix 1 and 1/2 teaspoons each of Ginger, ground coriander, Garam Masala, couple of cloves of Garlic or squirt of garlic puree,and a good sprinkle of salt, and mix in a large bowl with 5 OZ of plain yogurt.
cover the meat/veggies in the yogurt Spice mix, and then fry gently for 5 mins or so.

Add a few oz of ground almonds (this is my own addition, strongly recommended , it adds thickness and flavour). I used whole or flakes ground in the coffee bean grinder !.Throw in a couple of Cardomom pods, add 1 pt of water(or perhaps a fraction less) and simmer for 30/45 mins. Should turn to a nice thick sauce.
When finished, decorate with flaked almonds and the reserved onions.

The whole thing might not hurt for just a teaspoon of curry paste, but don't overdo it.

[mangerton]

Yes, but if I'm walking down the main street of any Scottish town and I go to the greengrocer to buy some small white turnips - what on earth do I ask for? Can you buy them in Scotland? Perhaps in future, to save confusion on this forum, we should adopt the French word for them which is Navets?

Ask for small white turnips, and yes you can buy them in Scotland. If you wanted swede, you'd ask for swede. If you asked for rutabaga, you'd be met with a blank stare, I suspect.

Scots are not very good with fruit and veg. There is a story about an Englishman who went into a bar in one of Glasgow's less savoury parts and eschewing the traditional "hauf and a hauf pint", asked for a gin and tonic. Consternation! Eventually the drink was produced, but there was no lemon - and probably no ice either. On asking for a slice, the customer was told, "Listen pal. This is a pub. Malcolm Campbell's ( a well known chain of greengrocers) is next door!"

This was long ago, of course. Glasgow is now all very savoury, and lemons are widely available.

[Flosshilde]

But it's still not a good idea to ask for a gin and tonic in some parts